


It's Darkest of All Before the Dawn

by maelstromdeparture



Series: Spirit of the Sea [6]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Brothers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, Magic, Mentioned ATEEZ Ensemble, Mentioned TXT Ensemble, Mermaids, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Pirates, Sirens, Violence, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26907532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelstromdeparture/pseuds/maelstromdeparture
Summary: The Levanter has seven of their eight member crew and they know they're close to the last member. With no clues to either their still missing eighth man or the location of the Lady Marietta and the captain that abducted Minho, the Levanter sails for Tortuga. There they run into familiar faces, rumors of a French pirate beginning a manhunt for them, a brand new crew missing a member, and a chase for a merchant ship.
Series: Spirit of the Sea [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927246
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	It's Darkest of All Before the Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> the gang's all here!!!!! yay!! 
> 
> WARNINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> \- implied/referenced rape/noncon  
> \- mentioned past abuse  
> \- implied past abuse  
> \- violence  
> \- very violent  
> \- they're pirates and they aren't exactly known for being nice  
> \- all the usual stuff with this series  
> \- there may be a dismembered tongue involved..... and by may i mean there is.   
> \- panic attack *thank you RadicalRox i completely forgot this* 
> 
> anyway......i've mentioned they're pirates and aren't supposed to be nice??? 
> 
> i think that's all the important stuff. enjoy :D

Within a handful of months Seungmin and Jeongin have both become full members of the Levanter crew and settled into a pirate’s life. Still the wind pulls them forward and Chan and Jisung both swear up and down they’re still missing a part of the crew. They’re close, Chan can feel it. It’s in the way the wind whispers a little stronger to the east and then far to the south, driving them forward and across the waves. They must be on a ship because the wind flitters about a little more than it did when it took him to any of the ones he had found on land. The trail chasing the Lady Marietta has died out as well and they haven’t had a good raid in months, everyone was antsy. Chan was antsy. It felt like the calm before the storm.

“Jisung-ah,” called Chan and the younger turned to look at him from where he had climbed up to sit in the rigging and watch the chaos below as Hyunjin and Jeongin yelled at each other and chased each other around over something or other.

“Yeah, hyung?”

“I’m turning us to the west,” said Chan, “prepare for landing by nightfall.” Jisung frowned and stood up squinting in the distance at the horizon.

“Tortuga?” he asked, “we haven’t been back to Tortuga in years.”

“We need information,” said Chan, “it’s the biggest hub of pirates in the world. It’ll be our best bet for sightings of the Lady Marietta or anyone who might have seen it.” Jisung looked back down to the deck where Seungmin was talking to Minho. They would need to make sure Seungmin didn’t stand out too much, Jeongin too. Actually, Chan would feel much better if he could keep an eye on all of his crew at once. At least he knew they could take care of themselves and each other so he didn’t have to worry about it too much. Maybe he could convince Seungmin to pierce his ears, that would make him look much less like a runaway noble and far more like a pirate. He turned the wheel to turn the ship in the right direction and Jisung shifted to keep his balance with the change in motion, before climbing down to the deck to start organizing what they would need to be prepared for a landing in Tortuga. The wind pulled to the east again before loosening and fluttering along at their side, happy with their decision to sail for Tortuga.

Jeongin is nervous, so is Seungmin and it’s obvious. Changbin and Jisung have taken up either side of Seungmin and have somehow convinced him to pierce his ears tonight. Jisung has also managed to put a handful of tiny braids in Seungmin’s hair to make it messier. Hyunjin is lingering by the stairs up to the helm, obviously waiting for Chan, so Minho moves over towards Jeongin. His blue hair makes it obvious he’s not exactly normal and he keeps tugging at it nervously.

“Innie, if you keep pulling on it, you’re going to attract attention,” said Minho carefully unwinding his extra bandana from around his wrist. He folded it in half and carefully tied it over Jeongin’s head. It helped hide the color of his hair but Jeongin still looked concerned.

“But, hyung, your brand,” said Jeongin shaking his head.

“I’m fine,” said Minho, “it’s fine. We’re in Tortuga and it’s not like I can’t take care of myself. No one cares as much about an ex-slave as they would about a mer with blue hair.”

“But you always wear it, hyung,” said Jeongin.

“Well, I’m not today,” said Minho, “stop worrying so much. Seungminnie’s getting his ears pierced when we land, you want to go with them?”

“No,” said Jeongin, “if I’m getting my ears pierced one of you are doing it. I’m not letting a stranger stab me with a needle.” Minho laughed.

“We’ll see if Hyunjin will do it then,” he said. “I bet he’s got the steadiest hands and the most experience with stabbing people with needles.”

“That’s fair,” muttered Jeongin nodding. “He’s sticking with Chan-hyung, right?”

“Yep,” said Minho nodding. “I’ll be your landing buddy.” Jeongin laughed.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get over the fact that we don’t go anywhere alone. No other ship I’ve been on has ever been like that. Even my pod didn’t do that,” said Jeongin. “And yet I’ve never actually gotten sick of any of you.”

“Safety in numbers,” said Minho shrugging. “Better to stick together, especially when we’re not on the ocean. On the ocean we have the upper hand, but on land it is better to pair up. Or in their case triple.” He gestured to the trio planning where Seungmin’s piercings were going near the side of the ship. Chan pulled them into Tortuga and they all hurried to get the ship docked in port. It wasn’t long before they found themselves down on the dock headed further into town.

“Any last minute stuff, hyung?” asked Changbin turning to walk backwards so he was facing Chan.

“Um. Don’t add to the population,” said Chan, “don’t end up hurt or dead. Stick together. Look for any leads on the Lady Marietta or Captain Hendricks. Try not to end up in any duels or executions. And I guess avoid the French.” Minho couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. He loved life with the Levanter.

“Right then, come on, Seungminnie,” said Jisung grabbing Seungmin’s hand and running off towards the street. Changbin yelled and sprinted after them.

“Shops or taverns, Jinnie?” asked Chan.

“Shops, I want to restock medical supplies while we’re here,” said Hyunjin nodding. “And is there a witch’s shop? I heard there’s a witch shop.”

“We can look for it,” said Chan nodding. “Min, Innie, where are you headed?”

“Shops I suppose,” said Minho nodding. “We’ll meet you at a tavern by sundown.”

“Sounds good. Not the one nearest the water, it’s a little further in. Sunrise Sailors or something, there’s a sun on the sign,” said Chan. Minho nodded.

“We’ll find it,” he agreed. Chan nodded and he and Hyunjin headed off further into the town.

“Where are we going, hyung?” asked Jeongin.

“Wherever I suppose,” said Minho nodding. “Let’s find something interesting. See if anyone’s heard any gossip. Pick a direction.” Jeongin looked around before pointing left. He reached for Minho and then hesitated.

“Can I hold onto you, hyung?” he asked.

“Yeah, go ahead,” said Minho feeling warm inside knowing that his brothers always made a point to either wait for him to grab them or asked permission to touch him. He knew most crews wouldn’t have cared at all. But most crews also wouldn’t have burned down an entire inn to free a sex slave. Jeongin’s fingers wrapped loosely around his wrist, right over his brand and Minho wondered if that was on purpose or if it was just where Jeongin had grabbed. For a moment Minho was reminded quite suddenly of a Jisung several years younger who still clung to Chan’s belt out of habit and anxiety of being lost from the crew. The thought doesn’t last long as an open street market catches Jeongin’s eye and he’s quickly tugging Minho into the chaotic and colorful street. They eat fruit that Minho’s never even heard of before, there are books and maps in languages that neither of them speak or recognize, paintings and jewelry abound. Jeongin buys a strip of bright purple fabric from one of the stalls and ties it carefully around Minho’s wrist with the brand and Minho spends fifteen minutes sat against a building in the dirt carefully winding beads into Jeongin’s hair. Jeongin squints at the sky after several hours of wandering.

“The sun’s starting to set, hyung,” he announced. “Should we find the others?”

“Yeah, probably,” said Minho nodding. “Let’s see if anyone knows where we’re going.” He and Jeongin made their way over to one of the stalls they had bought something from.

“ _Miss, is there a tavern?_ ” asked Minho careful to pronounce the English as clearly as he could. He didn’t mind his accent and none of the others did, but you never knew with locals if they were going to act like they couldn’t understand you or not.

“ _There’s one just down the street there,_ ” said the woman gesturing.

“ _No, no, sorry. Sunrise?_ ” asked Minho.

“ _Sunrise tavern?_ ” echoed Jeongin nodding. And the woman nodded.

“ _It’s up to the left. Three streets over two up,_ ” she said.

“Thank you. _Thank you,_ ” said Minho quickly, Jeongin echoing the sentiment. The two of them hurried off up the street and followed the woman’s directions. It wasn’t hard to find it from there. Music and laughter poured out of the tavern and multiple languages.

“There’s Hyunjin-hyung,” said Jeongin pointing as they entered. “Hyung!” He waved and Hyunjin perked up and waved back.

“Yah, Jeonginnie,” he called. “I like your beads. Have you seen the others yet?”

“Not yet,” said Jeongin shaking his head. He and Minho moved over to where Hyunjin had sat down and settled around him.

“Where’s Chan-hyung?” asked Minho looking around. Hyunjin gestured to the bar where Chan was talking to another pirate, he looked skeptical but was asking questions.

“He said he’d be right back,” said Hyunin nodding, “hear anything interesting?”

“Rumors of the British forming an army of privateers and professional pirate hunters,” said Minho, “but nothing actually interesting.”

“An entire port of pirates and not one of them has information on the Lady Marietta,” said Hyunjin annoyed.

“There’s the other three,” said Jeongin sitting up straight and waving. The last three joined them around the table.

“Looks good, Minnie,” said Minho gesturing to his own ears to make it clear he meant the piercings that now lined Seungmin’s ears. He looked much less respectable now and far more like a pirate.

“Thanks, hyung,” said Seungmin grinning. “Look, Jisungie pierced his tongue.” Jisung stuck his tongue out to show off a small silver piercing sitting in the middle of it.

“Cool, right?” he asked grinning.

“Awesome, Jisung-ah,” said Minho nodding and Hyunjin looked intrigued by it, as if he was considering one of his own.

“Didn’t that hurt?” asked Jeongin scrunching his nose.

“It wasn’t that bad,” said Jisung shrugging. “But also like, my pain tolerance is kinda shot? So it’s not like I’m a usual comparison.”

“Thinking about piercings, Innie?” asked Changbin.

“They look cool, but I’ve kind of had enough of pain,” said Jeongin shaking his head. “If I’m doing something painful I’m getting a tattoo.”

“That’d be cool,” said Seungmin nodding. “You’d look badass.” Chan rejoined them taking a seat between Minho and Jisung.

“Hey, looks good, Seungmin-ah,” he said.

“Thanks, hyung,” said Seungmin smiling brightly.

“Look, look,” said Jisung before sticking his tongue out and Chan laughed.

“Yours also looks good, Ji,” he said nodding and Jisung grinned pulling his tongue back into his mouth.

“Anyone hearing anything good?” asked Chan looking around the table.

“Not a thing,” said Minho shaking his head.

“There’s rumors about the British and a fleet of professional pirate hunters or something, but nothing useful,” said Jeongin nodding.

“We heard those too,” said Changbin nodding. “And something about a ship that’s a brother ship to the Epiphany.”

“That’s interesting,” said Chan nodding. “But not really helpful. The bartenders have nothing helpful and the pirates that thought they may have information only knew what we already know and don’t have suggestions.”

“So we don’t have a plan?” asked Jisung.

“Well, do we ever really?” said Chan face scrunching in thought as he said it. “We’re going east from here. That’s where it’s pulling, but I can’t get a clear reading. Nothing firm.”

“We’ve gotta be close. I keep having nightmares,” said Jisung shaking his head.

“They haven’t been very bad yet though,” pointed out Changbin, “and you don’t normally have nightmares. You had nightmares before Minho-hyung for a bit and before Innie. But not the rest of us.” Jisung nodded.

“It’d be great if I had any idea what I was dreaming about,” he said rolling his eyes. Hyunjin perked up and waved at a pirate walking in.

“Hey, that’s your friend, hyung,” he said. “Jongho-yah!” The youngest of the pirates joining them brightened immediately and said something to his crew before making his way over to their table.

“Hyunjin-ah,” he said, “you look happy. Oh you grew! Hello, everyone.”

“Hey, Jongho-ah,” said Chan, “is Hongjoong-ah with you?”

“Yes, they’re grabbing food, mind if we join you?” asked Jongho.

“Not at all,” agreed Chan nodding and Hyunjin immediately pushed at Seungmin to make room for Jongho who sat between them.

“This is Jongho he’s with the Twilight. He’s like me,” announced Hyunjin, “Jongho, that’s Seungmin-ah I don’t think you officially met him, and that’s Jeongin-ah our newest and youngest.” The rest of the Twilight crew made their way over quickly and joined them around the table.

“How was your pilgrimage to Goldfest, Hongjoong-ah?” asked Chan smirking as the other captain sat down beside him, Seonghwa on Hongjoong’s other side.

“Well, there’s a dead murderer and no more fort, so fantastic,” said Hongjoong cheerfully. “Which reminds me. We’ve got a book for you. This is Yeosang and Mingi by the way.” Chan ran through the rest of their names quickly and Yeosang looked at Jeongin curious.

“What kind of fish are you?” he asked him and Jeongin stiffened frowning.

“Fuck off,” he stated causing Yeosang to flinch back slightly, surprised.

“He’s not trying to hurt you, Innie,” said Chan shaking his head. “Hongjoong-ah wouldn’t take crew members like that French pirate.” Jeongin rolled his eyes.

“Hyung, I’m pretty sure your crew are the only actual decent humans in the world,” said Jeongin.

“Oh. No. No. I’m sorry. I’m half siren,” said Yeosang quickly, “I thought you could tell.” Jeongin perked up immediately intrigued.

“No, I’ve never met a siren. I’m Corazon’s Damselfish, the white and blue variety,” said Jeongin gesturing to his mostly hidden hair that was still obviously blue.

“That’s so cool,” said Yeosang brightly.

“You said something about a book?” asked Chan turning back to Hongjoong who nodded.

“We still owe you information,” he said nodding and Mingi pulled a book out of his bag and handed it over to Chan, who flipped it open and immediately frowned.

“Seungmin-ah,” he said catching his attention and Seungmin’s head snapped up quickly, still not quite fully letting go of his Navy training.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure this is French,” said Chan holding it out to him. Seungmin flipped it open and nodded.

“It is,” he said. “There are mistakes though so I think it’s French as a second language. Probably trying to keep things away from prying eyes.”

“But you can read it?” asked Jisung.

“Of course I can read it,” said Seungmin nodding and flipping through it. “There’s information on ships from the company the Lady Marietta is. Why the fuck this is in French of all languages makes no sense. They don’t travel to French ports.”

“What have you all been up too?” asked Hongjoong pulling Chan’s attention away from Seungmin who was muttering to himself under his breath as he looked through the book.

“We heard some odd story about Aucoin after your heads?” asked Seonghwa. “More than one port has sworn up and down he’s got a vendetta against the Levanter.”

“Like burning down entire taverns because people laughed at him for hunting down a ghost story,” said Yunho nodding eyes wide.

“What’d you do?” asked Hongjoong. “You aren’t exactly known for making enemies. And with the worst French pirate out there?”

“Said you were working with Whiplash. That’s nonsense, right?” asked San eyes wide at the idea of them working with Whiplash.

“Well, it wasn’t Whiplash, it was part of Whiplash,” said Chan shaking his head. “Apparently TY’s got something going on that’s time sensitive and needed to be in multiple places at once so there’s a couple smaller units out right now, so technically it was Dream, but yes we did work with Whiplash pirates. And yeah Aucoin probably does want us dead. We kinda stole Jeongin-ah from him.”

“And Jisung might have chopped off the first mate’s fingers,” said Minho nodding. “I feel like maybe this needs to be reiterated. If you ever try to hand me someone’s chopped of body parts as a gift I will throw you over the side of the ship, Jisung.”

“You are no fun. I try to show you my love by getting you justice and I’m threatened with my life,” said Jisung dramatically. “You already wouldn’t let me skin him.”

“Because that’s disgusting,” said Hyunjin, “and someone would have had to clean it up and no one deserves that.”

“You can skin the next one we find on a ship, okay,” said Chan rolling his eyes.

“How long do you think it’d take someone to bleed out like that?” asked Seungmin curious.

“We can find out,” said Jisung nodding, eyes brightening.

“Oh god there are two of them,” said Minho in the most horrified voice he could muster.

“I have distinct memories of someone agreeing to branding a man over the mouth and under each eye,” said Changbin squinting at Minho.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Binnie,” said Minho cheerfully, “and if you don’t want to join Jisung over the side of the ship neither do you.”

“I can swim,” stated Changbin, “besides hyung wouldn’t actually let any of us drown.”

“Oh one of the Whiplash boys is a deep sea mer, he’s some kind of an octopus, it was wild and terrifying. And their tentacles are enormous,” said Jeongin turning to Yeosang, “he threw me and Jisung-hyung from one ship to another.”

“And he could match his surroundings and could make me match too. He called it masking,” said Jisung nodding. “It was awesome and really disorienting.”

“Oh, also there may have been an incident involving Aucoin’s tongue and Jisung’s really nice knife from Tokyo,” said Hyunjin nodding.

“That was really interesting actually. It’s probably healed split like that. I’d kind of like to run into him again just to see,” said Seungmin flipping through the book as he talked.

“You’re all insane,” announced Yunho.

“Nah, just violent,” said Changbin, “I’m pretty sure none of us are actually crazy.”

“There’s a reason there are horror stories about the Levanter,” said Minho nodding.

“Pretty much everything you’ve ever heard is true but there’s always a reason,” said Hyunjin.

“You’re starting to have a real reputation,” said Hongjoong.

“Half the time people don’t believe you’re real though,” said Seonghwa nodding.

“Why don’t you land in ports very often? Don’t you get tired of the ship?” asked San.

“No,” said Chan shaking his head. “We land when we need to.”

“It’s hard to get sick of the ship. It’s home,” said Jisung.

“It’s very freeing,” said Minho nodding.

“Somewhere to belong,” agreed Seungmin absently. “Why would we rather be on land?”

“I’m part fish,” stated Jeongin, “I don’t mind not being on land much.”

“People suck and the sea is better,” agreed Changbin and Hyunjin nodded.

“We don’t stay in inns normally either,” he said, “rather be on the Levanter.”

“Hey did you hear about the Ego?” asked Hongjoong nudging Chan.

“No. What about it?” asked Chan surprised.

“Captain GD?” asked Jisung and Chan nodded.

“I learned to fight on that ship,” said Jisung absently.

“That’s why you fight like a maniac?” asked Hyunjin eyes wide.

“You sailed on the Ego?” asked Changbin mouth dropping open.

“Wait, you didn’t know?” asked Jisung, “me and hyung stowed on Spanish trade ship right out of Bahia Dolorosa, jumped from there to the Ego to the Eclipse and then we found you here and stole the Levanter.”

“The Eclipse?” asked San, “is it true they have a seer?”

“Mmm, yes?” said Jisung, “he’s something I don’t know if he’s a seer or an oracle or what. But he helped me figure out my own shit. They’re cool. Hyung’s brother is in their crew.”

“You’ve got a brother?” asked Hongjoong surprised.

“Well, kind of,” said Chan shrugging. “In the same way these are my brothers.” He gestured to the table at large.

“Me and BamBam don’t share blood, but we traveled from ship to ship together when we were kids until he settled on the Eclipse and I kept going,” said Chan nodding. Shouting was heard from the front of the tavern as people were pushed inside and then yanked back out. They looked young and there weren’t very many of them.

“What’s that about?” asked Jisung turning to look. The group got pushed back in, a tall man pulling a skinny but tall boy after him.

“ _Hey! These newbie pirates are after the Scarlet Lady! Anyone feeling the need to teach them some lessons before they go get themselves hung?_ ” The pirate shoved the boy forward and he stumbled and shot a glare at the man.

“Asshole,” he hissed flipping him off. He only earned himself a smack about the head which sent him reeling to the ground. Panicked shouting came from the other three with him.

“Fuck they’re young,” said Hongjoong and Chan felt it. The tug in his gut and the wind pulling him to the next step. It was time to go. He stood up and pushed his chair back.

“Get ready to go,” he said and the rest of the Levanter crew scrambled to their feet.

“Oh do we get to set something on fire tonight?” asked Changbin optimistically. “I thought this was going to end up being a boring stop.”

“No. But you might get into a bar fight,” said Chan shaking his head before striding over to the taller pirates.

“ _Oi, what are you doing, mate?_ ” he demanded.

“ _Oh do you want a shot at them? This kid fancies himself a captain. Thought they’d find people willing to give them information on the Scarlet Lady in Tortuga. She’s one of the only trade ships in the area that trades with us,_ ” said the pirate aiming to kick at the boy still reeling on the ground. “ _I’ll let you have a go if you like._ ”

“ _I’d love to have a go at you. You think age and size makes a fucking difference. Maybe I should feed you your own spine,_ ” said Chan stepping over the boy on the ground to get between him and the pirate who scowled at him.

“ _What’s it to you? He’s just a little twerp. He’s bigger than you at least,_ ” said the pirate looking Chan up and down.

“Yah, are you with him?” asked Chan looking to the boys being held back by the pirate’s friends. They all looked startled to hear Korean and nodded quickly.

“ _Seungmin, I think you were wanting to time out how long it would take someone to bleed out. Feel like finding out right now?_ ”

“ _Hell yeah,_ ” said Seungmin perking up. “ _I’m not slicing him open though. I don’t want nasty British Pirate blood all over my nice knives. Who wants to do it?_ ”

“ _I never get to slice anyone open. Can I do it?_ ” asked Hyunjin brightly.

“ _The fuck is wrong with you freaks?_ ”

“ _Well, he’s a witch, I’m a prophet, he’s part fish, this one’s a runaway governor’s son, that one’s a thief, he’s an ex-slave, and Chan-hyung’s part dragon,_ ” said Jisung shrugging. “ _So that sums it up pretty nice actually. You think I can get your brain if I stab you through the eye?_ ” The one nearest Jisung let go of the kid he was holding and decided now was a good time to bail.

“ _Coward!_ ” yelled the first one. “ _Who the fuck do you think you are?_ ”

“ _Are you stupid?_ ” asked San from where the Twilight crew still sat at the table. “ _That’s Captain Bang, of the Levanter. They blew up the Cupid’s Promise the last time a pirate annoyed them._ ” The rest of the man’s friends bailed at that also running off down the street.

“Damn and I didn’t get to stab anyone,” said Hyunjin shaking his head and moving over to check on the boy still crumpled on the floor. “Hey are you okay?”

“ _I suggest you run,_ ” said Chan. The pirate scoffed and Chan looked to Jisung and Hyunjin and nodded. Jisung stepped forward and the man bolted.

“We’ll meet you at the ship!” called Jisung already darting out the door after him.

“Yah, be fast! We need to get out to sea quick, Jisung-ah!” yelled Chan.

“We’ll only chase him to the end of the street, hyung,” called Hyunjin.

“Minho-hyung, I’m bringing you his tongue!” yelled Jisung voice getting farther away.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” yelled Minho running over to the door and sticking his head out. “Han fucking Jisung! If you bring me pirate body parts I will string you up to the mast by your fucking ankles!”

“Love you too!” yelled Jisung voice faint. Minho turned to glare at Chan.

“You raised heathens,” he stated.

“ _Oi,_ ” complained Chan laughter in his voice. “You helped.”

“ _Helped?_ How the hell did I help? He was before me,” said Minho.

“I’ll take blame for Jisung but Hyunjin is on you,” said Chan shaking his head and turning to the group of boys huddled around the boy who was now sitting up on the floor. He looked disoriented but otherwise okay.

“That idiot said you were looking for help,” said Chan crouching down to talk to the boy on the ground.

“Yes,” he said nodding quickly. “Our youngest was kidnapped from the last port by the Scarlet Lady. We couldn’t catch up. Please help us, anything. Just where the Scarlet Lady might drop off slaves or be going next.”

“Do you know the direction they went?” asked Chan.

“East,” said one of the others, one with bleached blonde hair.

“Alright, then let’s go east. We’ll catch up,” said Chan nodding.

“We’re chasing a trade ship?” asked Jeongin. “I thought we needed information.”

“Hongjoong-ah gave us information,” said Chan gesturing to Seungmin who was still holding the book. “We’re going east and fast.”

“You’re really going to help us? How are we supposed to catch up to them?” asked the boy on the ground.

“Trust me, we’ll catch them,” said Chan nodding. “You’re taking some of my crew with you. They’ll know what to do. I’m Bang Chan, that’s Lee Minho, Seo Changbin, Kim Seungmin, and Yang Jeongin. Hwang Hyunjing and Han Jisung are down the street.”

“I’m Choi Soobin, that’s Choi Yeonjun, Choi Beomgyu, and Kang Taehyun,” said Soobin. “We’re from Crown.”

“Oh, Epiphany’s brother ship,” said Hongjoong from the table further back.

“Yah, either join the conversation or don’t,” complained Chan. Hongjoong stuck his tongue out at him.

“Have fun on your hunt, we’re meeting someone here so we’re not coming,” he called. Chan nodded.

“That’s Hongjoong captain of the Twilight,” said Chan nodding to them. Jisung and Hyunjin reentered the doorway both breathing hard but grinning.

“Seungminnie, I’ve got you a tongue,” announced Jisung holding up a tongue between two fingers. Minho grimaced and Jeongin and Beomgyu both gagged slightly.

“Gross, Ji,” said Changbin rolling his eyes.

“Nice,” said Seungmin holding his hand out for it. “I need a biology book, hyung.”

“We’ll see,” said Chan, “I haven’t decided if I want to encourage this study of anatomy or not yet.”

“I don’t see how there’s a downside,” said Hyunjin shrugging. “It’d be useful to have help from someone else that actually understands medicine.”

“I feel the need to point out we survived without you,” said Jisung frowning and getting punched in the arm for his effort.

“I feel the need to point out every second we waste the Scarlet Lady gets further east,” said Yeonjun.

“He’s right, we need to go now,” said Chan nodding. “If we want to catch them before they get close to land again we need to run. Ji, Jin, and Min you’re going with them. The rest of us are on the Levanter.” The group nodded and Chan pulled Soobin to his feet.

“I’m serious about running,” he stated. The group hurried out the door and down the street breaking into a run quickly. It only took a handful of minutes to reach the dock and get up onto the two ships. The three Levanter boys aboard the Crown immediately started pulling loose the rope tying them to the dock and Jisung clamored up into the rigging immediately.

“Pull the anchor or lose it!” he called and the Crown boys scrambled to get the anchor up as Seungmin ran to the helm.

“Hold on!” called Jisung as Hyunjin joined him up in the rigging and helped get the sails unfurled. The wind caught the sails and the ship jolted violently into motion.

“Fuck he’s really pushing,” said Hyunjin. “He’s not done this since we went looking for Sana-noona.”

“We’re really on a time crunch,” said Seungmin spinning the wheel about quickly so the Crown followed the Levanter out into the open ocean. The land left view quickly as they sped across the open water.

“What the fuck,” said Yeonjun staring at the horizon where the land had just been.

“Why do you think we’re a ghost story?” asked Jisung, “I was super not kidding about there being magic involved in our crew.”

“This is incredible,” said Taehyun leaning over the side to watch as they all but flew through the water.

It was nearly two hours before there was a ship on the horizon. One with dark red accents and a bright flag flying proudly from the main mast.

“There she is!” called Jisung. “Don’t bother to drop anchor, there won’t be any wind.”

“Please be okay, please be okay,” muttered Soobin under his breath as they approached the ship.

“Alright! Treat it like any other raid,” called Jisung to the other two. “If there’s information, great. If not well at least we’ll make a profit.” True to his word the wind died completely around them as they came up on the Scarlet Lady. The crew of the Scarlet Lady was already in chaos having realized that they were surrounded by two pirate ships at once, which meant it was insanity the moment their boots hit the deck of the other ship.

“Where would they keep him?” asked Soobin sounding frantic.

“Hyung, you have to take a deep breath and think,” said Taehyun trying to calm him down.

“Below, check the brig,” said Seungmin gesturing to below their feet and then spinning to shoot a crew member that attempted to attack him. It didn’t take them very long to get the crew mostly subdued and start taking goods.

“ _Where’s your captain?_ ” asked Chan and the crew mate nearest him who was trembling in fear pointed towards the direction of the captain’s cabin in fear.

“ _He’s really fucking hiding?_ ” asked Chan. “ _Fuck some people should not be allowed to be in charge of others._ We’ll clean him out in front of his own eyes, who’s helping.” Seungmin and Jeongin volunteered happily while Changbin and Hyunjin opted to stay behind and help the Crown boys keep the crew under control while Soobin attempted to free their missing crew mate from the brig.

“Soobinnie’s trying to find the key, their youngest looks alright. Bruised and frightened but alright. Minho-hyung’s with him,” said Jisung joining the three headed to the captain’s cabin. Chan nodded and watched as Jeongin tried the door to the captain’s cabin.

“Locked,” he announced.

“Okay, step back,” said Chan nodding. The three of them stepped back to give him enough room to kick the door hard enough to snap the lock open. The wind pulled harsh against Chan and settled firmly around him. Their last member was here somewhere. The door slammed open and the man inside screamed.

“ _Fuckin’ idiot,_ ” said Chan shaking his head and walking in, pistol already out and lazily trained on the captain. The captain put his hands up quickly and his eyes darted to the gun on his table.

“Get the gun,” said Chan nodding to it and Seungmin picked it up quickly and then froze when he turned around.

“Shit,” he said followed by swearing in as many languages as Seungmin knew. “Hyung. Hyung, you need Minho-hyung. Goddammit there’s gotta be keys around here.” Chan risked a glanced to his right to see what Seungmin was panicking about. A small thin boy with messy brown hair and faded freckles was slumped on his knees against the wall. He was barely clothed with the thin oversize shirt hanging off his frame, every bone in his body was visible, and he was clearly too weak to even hold himself up. There was a thick collar locked around his neck and chained to the wall, holding him up but also keeping him on his knees, so he couldn’t stand. His arms were pulled up by his ears and his wrists were locked to the back of the collar. He was bleeding in several places and covered in bruises but he met Chan’s eyes with a defiant glare. By all means the boy looked like he should be completely broken and shattered, a pile of hurt fearful boy, but he wasn’t. He was angry and proud and there was fight left in him. The eighth member of their crew.

“Find the key,” said Chan to Seungmin, “Jeongin, search for everything slightly valuable. We’re going to make him watch as we take everything from him.” He switched to Spanish before talking to Jisung hoping to throw the captain off.

“Go find Minho,” he said. “Bring him here.” The switch in language only encouraged the captain to speak in Spanish as well.

“You speak Spanish! Take anything you want just spare my ship. Leave me my crew, take all the goods you want. You can take the boy too. A gift! He’s very expensive, a rare find. He’s a beautiful creature, and feisty as hell. Dangerous though, trained in combat. You won’t ever be able to do anything to break him either. He’s from that place all the criminals go. Born and raised in hell on earth. He’s worth more than anything else in this entire ship. There’s a boy in the brig too if you want that. He’s useless, pretty but useless. Might make a pretty penny at an auction though.”

“ _Shut up,_ ” said Chan rolling his eyes. “Seungmin, the key?” Seungmin let out a triumphant noise and held up a thick iron key. He hurried over to the boy and carefully started unlocking the metal holding him in place. The boy slumped to the floor the minute Seungmin unlocked the chain holding him up. It took Seungmin another few minutes to work free his wrists and then get the collar off. He tossed the key away from him once the boy was free and carefully pulled him over to be behind Chan, where it’d be easier to keep him safe. He frowned and held up his wrist for Chan to see.

“Look, hyung. Like Minho-hyung’s,” he said, “and Chenle’s.” There were numbers branded into the boy’s wrist, 180801 and below that a scorpion brand as well.

“We should’ve asked what the scorpion means,” said Chan frowning. The captain smiled pleased that Chan had apparently taken his offer and started pointing to other things for them to take, still trying to buy them off. Jisung ran back in and Minho was steps behind him.

“Fuck,” swore Minho immediately and the captain’s eyes widened in surprise.

“ _Ah, you’ll make good use of the latest toy then,_ ” he stated.

“Do you want to kill him or do you want me too?” he asked Minho.

“That’s the man that sold me to the inn,” said Minho. He hesitated a moment.

“I want to do it,” he stated. “I want to kill him.”

“Here do it with his own pistol,” said Seungmin passing the gun to Minho who took it, which just made the captain immediately look confused.

“I’m going to shoot his knees out first, Min-ah, okay?” asked Chan and Minho nodded. Chan pulled the trigger twice and the captain screamed as he hit the floor. Chan and Minho moved closer to him, standing over him on either side. Chan kicked him harshly in the side.

“ _Oi, you really shouldn’t kidnap people, mate. People aren’t toys, asshole. You see using people as sex slaves gets you right where you fucking deserve,_ ” said Chan purposely making his accent as strong as he could. “ _Staring down the barrel of a gun held by someone you thought was beneath you. When you get to Davy Jones, tell him the good people from hell on earth sent you._ ” He nodded to Minho who grinned and pulled the trigger. The captain died instantly face still stuck in horror and terror, as he realized that Minho was going to shoot him right between the eyes. Minho handed the gun back to Seungmin and stepped away.

“Soobin got Kai out. Can we leave?” asked Minho.

“Let’s go,” said Chan nodding in agreement. He crouched and picked the freckled boy up into his arms easily. He weighed next to nothing, even as dead weight in Chan’s arms. He still glared at Chan when Chan picked him up, even though he didn’t have the strength to fight it. The rest of the crew left ahead of them and Chan followed out onto the deck.

“Soobin, get your crew on deck,” called Chan, “we’re leaving now.” The crew of the Crown hurried to get back to their own ship. Yeonjun was carrying a tall young boy on his back, but he looked alright other than exhaustion and a few bruises.

“Thank you!” called Soobin. “There’s not much I can do to repay you. If you cross paths with the Epiphany tell them I said you’re an ally.”

“Don’t worry about that, get your crew to safety,” called Chan already heading towards the Levanter. Minho, Jeongin, and Hyunjin were the first ones over, Seungmin followed, and dumped his own bags of loot onto the deck to add to the pile that the others had accumulated. Chan joined them next and waited until Changbin and Jisung had joined them from the other ship. The wind picked up around them and Chan called orders in order to get them away from the ship. He didn’t put the other boy down yet, and let Changbin take the helm. Once they were underway and out of sight of the Scarlet Lady he started to the captain’s cabin.

“Hyunjin, I need your help,” he called. Hyunjin and Minho hurried after him joining him in the cabin as he carefully set the boy down on the bed.

“Why the hell did that asshole have him as a sex slave?” hissed Minho running careful fingers over the boy’s brand. His wrists were rubbed raw and would probably scar from the manacles.

“They don’t brand sex slaves on the wrist,” said Minho shaking his head, his hand falling to his own hip. The boy had squeezed his eyes closed and looked like he was mentally preparing himself for the worst.

“There’s nothing I can heal immediately,” said Hyunjin grimacing. “everything’s just bruises or already scarred over. The blood’s old. He’s just starving and exhausted. He’s too weak to hold himself up because he’s all but dead from starvation.”

“Okay, you go get food,” said Chan nodding. “Minho and I’ll get him in the bathtub and in clean clothes.” Hyunjin nodded and left quickly. Minho sat with the boy on the bed while Chan got the bathtub filled up. The boy still looked like he was bracing himself to be hurt and used again. He flinched when Minho brushed his long bangs out of his face.

“He doesn’t act like he understands us, hyung,” said Minho carefully picking up the boy’s hand and tugging up his own shirt in order to run the boy’s fingers carefully over the numbers branded into his hip. The boy’s eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up to look but couldn’t hold himself up so Minho shifted into his sightline so the boy could see his brand before he tugged up the purple strip of cloth Jeongin had bought for him in Tortuga to show him his wrist. The boy looked at Minho shocked and confused.

“ _Safe,_ ” tried Minho hesitantly in English. The boy’s face shifted to disbelief.

“ _Don’t fucking lie to me,_ ” he stated and Minho grimaced.

“ _Sorry, little English,_ ” he said, “ _Korean?_ ”

“ _I am Korean. I don’t speak it,_ ” said the boy.

“ _That’s alright. I speak English,_ ” said Chan, “ _that captain said you were from Australia?_ ”

“ _What’s it matter to you where I’m from?_ ” demanded the boy.

“ _Well, I’m from Australia so that’d be kinda cool,_ ” said Chan nodding. “ _No one else is from Australia on board. I’m Chan, that’s Minho. Hyunjin went to get you food. Minho’s going to help you in the bath and I’m going to find you real clothes._ ”

“ _Don’t lie to me,_ ” snapped the boy. “ _I’m not stupid. Just because I can’t fight back right now doesn’t mean I’m going to just let you do whatever you want._ ”

“ _Then we’re not going to have any problems,_ ” said Chan nodding. “ _We aren’t going to hurt you, we don’t want anything from you. You’re free._ ”

“ _Normally people don’t play mind games,_ ” said the boy annoyed. “ _Just get on with it._ ”

“You want to help him, Minho-yah? He doesn’t believe me,” said Chan and Minho nodded and carefully picked the boy up and set him in the bathtub. The boy didn’t fight him when he tugged the now wet shirt off of him and didn’t complain either, though he did look surprised when Chan stood up to find new clothes for him.

“You’re okay, right?” asked Chan, “you’ve never wanted to be the one to kill them before.”

“He was one of the worst,” said Minho quietly. “It was bad everywhere, but it was really bad there. He doesn’t treat us like living things. We’re dolls to him. Or were I suppose. That was really satisfying. I think I understand why Hyunjin didn’t feel any sort of remorse over shooting that man that killed his mother.” Hyunjin rejoined them and settled down next to Minho so he could help the boy eat.

“ _Hyung, you should know that Seungmin brought that tongue on board with him,_ ” stated Hyunjin and Chan sighed deeply.

“ _Of course he did,_ ” he muttered. “ _This is Changbin’s fault you know. He’s the one that brought Minnie on board._ ”

“ _Just get him an anatomy book and embrace it. Can’t be worse than Jisung’s need to set things on fire or Changbin’s inability to play a game without cheating,_ ” said Hyunjin shrugging. “ _At least it’s somewhat helpful._ ”

“ _How is Seungmin having someone else’s tongue on board a good thing?_ ”

“ _You know I’m not totally sure but I’m sure he’ll figure out something useful from it,_ ” said Hyunjin. “ _And the point is he’s happy._ ”

“How did he even get it on board?” complained Chan setting clothes down on the table.

“Apparently in his pocket,” said Hyunjin.

“ _He carried someone else’s tongue in his pocket,_ ” said Chan staring at Hyunjin who nodded and carefully pushed some soup into the boy’s mouth.

“ _You’ll feel better if you eat,_ ” he told him. The boy seemed to have no complaints about taking food from pirates and let Hyunjin continue to feed him.

“ _I did not sign up for runaway nobles with a tendency to carry other people’s body parts in their pockets,_ ” said Chan slumping down into the newest edition to the room, a large arm chair. “ _I’m not his dad. I’m not old enough to be anyone’s dad. Why the hell do I feel like a single father of six?_ ”

“ _Because you are?_ ” said Hyunjin.

“Yah,” complained Chan flicking him lightly in the shoulder making Hyunjin laugh. Minho grinned and shook his head.

“Insane the lot of you,” he complained.

“Join the club, Minho-hyung. I hear you shot someone point blank in cold blood today. Congrats, you’re just as crazy as the rest of us,” said Hyunjin.

“I suppose if I was going to be crazy at least I’m in company,” said Minho rolling his eyes at Hyunjin and bumping shoulders with him lightly. Chan sat bolt upright.

“Oh god, Seungmin brought someone else’s tongue on board. I need to make sure it doesn’t end up in here,” said Chan standing and bolting out of the room. “Seungmin! What the hell are you doing with that tongue?” The boy in the tub watched him leave with wide eyes.

“ _Where is he going?_ ” he asked worried.

“ _To keep Seungmin from bringing the tongue here. He’ll probably keep it in the map room. They’ll have to find something to put it in though,_ ” said Hyunjin. “ _Oh fuck. He’s going to steal one of my herb bottles._ _I’m Hyunjin by the way, what’s your name?_ ”

“ _Why do you care? No one ever uses it,_ ” said the boy frowning.

“ _We’ll use it,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “ _Everyone should have their own name and their own identity. You’re a person you have a name and we’ll use it._ ” The boy scoffed at that and Hyunjin wished that there was a way he could convince him.

“ _I don’t believe you,_ ” he said. “ _This is a weird trick I’ll admit, but you’re still pirates and the assholes that kidnapped me and hurt me aren’t even pirates._ ”

“ _Yeah I bet they’re the same kind of assholes that tried to have me executed,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “ _And probably a lot like the fuckers that used Jisung as their own personal fortune teller. He’s still got scars on his wrists because they kept him locked in one room on the floor and if they didn’t like what he told them or if he breathed wrong they held his wrists over open fire until the metal heated up and burned him. Jeongin’s the youngest, we just stole him from French pirates that had him locked in a tank, starving, dehydrated, and fucking tortured. Minho-hyung’s like you, they burned the inn they found him in to the ground, after using the same brand the inn keeper used on him to brand his face multiple times. Changbin-hyung’s a thief, and a contract breaker. His parents died at sea and he was left at Tortuga, the tavern owner he was apprenticed to abused him and forced him to steal and cheat to be allowed to sleep inside on the floor and eat anything. Seungmin-ah’s dad is a governor, his mom’s dead. He was getting too curious so his dad shipped him off to the Navy, where he got bullied and abused by the entire crew, stalked and harassed by the quartermaster, and nearly killed by the captain. Changbin-hyung found him during a raid, pulled the quartermaster off him, slit his throat, and brought Seungmin back with him. Chan-hyung’s parents are either dead or gone. He’s spent his entire life on the ocean, grew up jumping from ship to ship, sailing and fighting and never having somewhere to be home, people who love him. That’s why we’re all here. That’s the entire crew. Hyung built a crew of lost kids with no where to go and gave us a home and freedom and somewhere to belong and be and live and people to love. I know you don’t believe me you don’t have to say it again. But that’s the truth. That’s why you think this is weird, because it is. We are. We’re not exactly normal pirates._ ”

“ _You told me about everyone but you,_ ” pointed out the boy.

“ _My father was a fisherman he died during a storm. My mother was a witch, in a small colony town,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “ _You’re either born with the ability to be a witch or you aren’t. I was. My earliest memory and my only memory of my mother is watching the Navy tie stones to her feet and drop her off the side of the dock. For healing the child of the man that ordered it. They were going to kill me or sell me to an admiral, Minho-hyung and Jisung were in the right place at the right time and offered to take me with them. I went._ ”

“ _What about the man that killed your mother? You don’t want vengeance? If I could get my hands on the man that kidnapped me I’d make his death worth it,_ ” said the boy eyes darkening.

“ _We ran into him on the way out. First time I’ve ever shot a gun, hit him right in the forehead he died on the spot and I got to step over his body on my way to freedom. I don’t regret it to this day. Maybe I should. You’re supposed to regret the first time you take a life, but I don’t. Not even a little bit. It’s almost fitting. My mother died for his kid, he died for me._ ” said Hyunjin forcing more of the soup into the boy who swallowed quickly.

“ _Lee Felix,_ ” said the boy. “ _My name was Felix._ ”

“Felix,” repeated Hyunjin smiling. “ _Like Chan-hyung’s English name is Chris. Some of the ladies at the orphanage called me Sam but they were evil people so I don’t use it. I think Jisung’s is technically Peter or Pietro or something. Bahia Dolorosa just called him the Son of the Devil or the Demon Boy. He’s a Doom Prophet._ ”

“ _That’s a hell of a nickname,_ ” muttered Felix before letting Hyunjin give him more soup. Minho was listening to them talk but not trying to join the conversation, just quietly helping Felix get all the dirt and blood off. The younger boy was covered in scars and far too thin, they could see everyone of his ribs. Seeing how thin Felix was and how thin Jeongin had been when they picked him up months ago now, Minho was quietly glad that he wasn’t around when Chan first found Jisung. He doesn’t think he could deal with seeing the boy without his cheeks, it was like if Chan didn’t have curly hair, if Seungmin wasn’t sarcastic, if Jeongin’s hair wasn’t blue. It was the way of the world and Minho didn’t want to see it any other way.

“Hyunjinnie, ask him if he knows who kidnapped him,” said Minho interrupting whichever way the other two’s conversation had gone as he thought.

“ _Minho-hyung wants to know if you know who kidnapped you,_ ” said Hyunjin.

“ _The ship was called the Lady Marietta,_ ” said Felix nodding. “ _It was an older captain. He was British._ ”

“Lady Marietta, older British Captain,” said Hyunjin.

“Sounds like mine,” said Minho, “ask about the scorpion.”

“ _What does the brand mean?_ ” asked Hyunjin gesturing to his own wrist. “ _Not the numbers, but the other one. I’ve seen it before but didn’t have time to ask._ ”

“ _Basically it means can be used as a weapon. I have extensive combat training. They mainly use it to mark the really dangerous slaves,_ ” said Felix, “ _my mum and dad were assassins. That’s why my family is Australian. They taught me. Most of us with the scorpion brand are assassins or were involved in some kind of organized crime before we were abducted._ _I’m surprised you saw one. There aren’t a lot of us._ ”

“ _He was Chinese, he sailed with the Whiplash,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding and Felix’s eyes widened in horror.

“ _With the Whiplash?_ ” he whispered. “ _Holy shit. That can’t be good, but it does make sense. They’ve probably got a couple._ ”

“ _Pretty sure it’s just Chenle, but we didn’t meet the whole crew. They were really nice. Chan-hyung says TY-ssi only seems intimidating but is really a softy and can’t tell people no,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding along as he talked. “ _They weren’t very intimidating. I’m much more afraid of Jihyo-noona, but she seems cool._ ”

“ _Who the fuck are you?_ ” asked Felix eyes wide, carefully supporting himself to sit up fully. Hyunjin looked at him surprised.

“ _Oh, right. Welcome aboard the Levanter._ ” Felix looked like he might faint.

“ _I’m going to die. I’m going to die and staying alive all that time will be worth nothing. I’m never seeing my family again,_ ” said Felix horrified. Minho looked at Hyunjin startled.

“The fuck did you do?”

“He asked where he was,” said Hyunjin frantically. “ _Felix. Felix, hey you’re not going to die. We’re really not scary I promise. It stops being scary the first time you see Chan-hyung fall down the stairs. He’s a dork. I once saw him seriously tell someone he didn’t presume to be God but he’d gladly send him to judgement. Like is that not the most dorky death threat you can imagine._ ” Felix still looks like he’s panicking.

“Fuck he’s going to pass out,” said Hyunjin. “ _Lix, hey, Lix, we’re gonna get you up out of the water and into warm clothes. You really need to sleep._ ”

“ _Not allowed,_ ” said Felix between gasping for air.

“ _Definitely allowed,_ ” said Hyunjin, “ _in fact it’s preferable. Also, I really need you to take a deep breath._ ”

“ _Can’t,_ ” said Felix shortly as Hyunjin and Minho maneuvered him out of the bathtub and into the clothes. Hyunjin could tell they were starting to lose him.

“Lay him flat, lift his legs,” said Hyunjin and Minho followed instructions quickly.

“ _Felix, I need you to try to follow my breathing. If you can’t take a full breath I’m going to have to give you mouth to mouth. Your body can’t pass out right now. You don’t have enough nutrients for it to keep functioning. If you lose consciousness there’s nothing I can do to wake you back up if you’re not breathing._ ” said Hyunjin.

“ _Can’t,_ ” said Felix panicking harder, the word came out much more strained than before.

“ _You can. I know you can,_ ” said Hyunjin. But he didn’t and after another few seconds Hyunjin had to force air into his lungs. It took a couple tries before Felix was able to inhale a full breath again.

“ _Take a deep breath, please?_ ” asked Hyunjin and Felix did, coughing slightly.

“ _That sounded okay. Keep breathing slowly and deeply,_ ” said Hyunjin. “He’s okay. Let’s get him on the bed, hyung?” Minho nodded in agreement and shifted to help Hyunjin get Felix on his feet. Felix tensed as he realized they were putting him back on the bed.

“ _You need to rest,_ ” said Hyunjin. “ _We’re going to wake you up in a bit to try and eat some more. Please rest. Minho-hyung will stay with you and no one will touch you._ ” Felix let them push him to the side of the bed nearest the wall and Minho slid in next to him. 

“ _Sleep please,_ ” said Minho, “ _you’re safe._ ” Felix looked ready to disagree but he clearly didn’t have the energy to fight it and his eyes fluttered shut quickly.

“You’re okay, hyung?” asked Hyunjin and Minho shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said finally, “I think so. We’ll see in a bit when everything starts to settle.” Hyunjin nodded and stood up to start cleaning up, being careful not to wake Felix up.

Hyunjin had first watch tonight officially but all eight of the boys were in the captain’s cabin looking around.

“We need another bed,” announced Jisung frowning.

“It’s like puzzle,” muttered Seungmin frowning and looking around the cabin. “There’s got to be a way to fit everyone comfortably.”

“Felix-ah won’t want anyone in the bed with him and Minho,” muttered Chan rubbing the back of his neck as he thought. “I bet we can squeeze at least three of us into the window seat.”

“I’m the smallest other than Changbin-hyung,” said Jisung, “so I think that means me, you, and Jeongin are in the window seat.”

“That still leaves three of us without anywhere to sleep,” pointed out Seungmin shaking his head.

“Me and you can sleep in the chair,” said Changbin. “I like sleeping in the chair, it’s cozy.”

“It’ll be a tight fit,” pointed out Seungmin, “can it hold both of us?”

“It’ll have too,” said Changbin nodding.

“Technically we’ll be swapping out so the last person doesn’t need somewhere to sleep,” said Chan nodding, “let’s try it.” Everyone started peeling out of boots and weapons quickly and Jisung was the first to climb up into the window seat and pressed himself as far against the window as he could. Jeongin followed quickly, wrapping himself tightly around Jisung, trying to make room for Chan. Minho was already asleep in the bed next to Felix and Chan shook him awake just enough to help him out of his boots and weapons and lying down comfortably in the bed, before he was back asleep again. Felix slept straight through it. Changbin climbed up into the chair and Seungmin hesitated before following him into the chair, the two of them had to do a lot of wiggling around before they managed to sort themselves out in a comfortable cuddling position.

“This is actually really nice,” announced Changbin and Seungmin let his head drop fully onto Changbin’s shoulder.

“You’re sleeping here with me every night,” he told Seungmin who laughed at the comment but didn’t complain. Chan and Hyunjin were both eyeing the window seat.

“There’s no way I’ll fit with both of them, hyung,” pointed out Hyunjin. “I don’t think you’re going to fit with both of them. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, we have extra blankets.”

“I really don’t want anyone on the floor,” said Chan shaking his head. Jeongin and Jisung readjusted so they were lying more comfortably in the window seat.

“Aren’t there hammocks down below?” asked Jisung and Hyunjin’s face lit up.

“There are, I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried out of the room.

“We’re not separating,” said Chan shaking his head. “I can just stay up.”

“Hyung, you’re stupid,” said Seungmin, “Hyunjin’s bringing the hammock in here. We can hang it from this ceiling.” True to his words not even a minute later Hyunjin had rejoined them in the cabin and was carrying a hammock. He and Chan worked together to get it hung up near the window seat and opposite where the bed sat against the corner of the room.

“You’ll swap with me, Hyunjin-ah,” said Chan nodding and Hyunjin nodded.

“Okay, hyung, goodnight everyone,” he announced quietly before heading back to the helm to keep watch. Chan went back around the room one last time, making sure all boots were against the wall, all weapons were off, and all blankets were on. Heads were ruffled, cheeks were pinched, he put out the lamp before climbing up into the hammock. Something told him it was going to be a long night.

Hyunjin swapped out with him in the middle of the night and everything was still silent but Chan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He waited until Hyunjin was in the hammock and asleep before sliding his own boots on and carefully setting Hyunjin’s against the wall. He looked over the group one last time worrying about the gut feeling, but everyone was sound asleep and safe so he left the room and made his way to the helm. The sea was calm around them and the wind greeted him lethargically. It was quiet and cool and peaceful. Nothing felt wrong up here, but he couldn’t shake the feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. The wind pulled south and east and Chan wondered at it before it pulled more consistently so Chan spun the helm and followed it, letting it take them where it willed. There wasn’t much in that direction, few islands at all. They could cross the Atlantic and sail along the edge of Africa, there were some great ports there, the food was fantastic. He let his mind wander as he kept the ship on it’s now unknown course. Jisung’s nightmares had been bad recently but he hadn’t complained much of them and there hadn’t been any true Nightmares. Changbin was loving having so many new people on board to teach things and play games with, though he did seem to be the one doing the most to remind everyone else to eat three meals a day. Chan may say he felt like a singe father of six, but the truth was that he couldn’t be this captain without Changbin and Minho helping when he had his hands full. Minho had been doing exceptionally well lately and seemed happier than he had ever been. There were fewer nightmares, more often than not he allowed hugs than denied them, but Chan wouldn’t be surprised if there was a downswing in how well he was feeling for a few days. He had been unusually quiet after the events of the night. Seungmin seemed to finally be settling in. For being the one Chan ought to worry the least about he found himself worrying the most. The others were all more open about their struggles and how they were doing, Seungmin was definitely not open. Chan wouldn’t say he was closed off or even trying to hide them, he just approached them differently. He seemed to be categorizing things and dealing with them one at a time. There had been a couple of quiet nightmares that mainly solidified his desire to not sleep alone, which no one had any problems with. He was a lot more relaxed lately, he smiled more easily and more genuinely, he laughed loudly and loved learning all of Changbin’s cheating and slight of hand tricks. He and Jisung would spend hours going back and forth in Spanish and Seungmin had taught him all the swear words in French that he knew. Hyunjin was happy and free and open about his magic. He didn’t hesitate to use it any more and constantly wanted to learn more. He had been so excited earlier to find the witch shop in Tortuga. Jeongin had fit into his place in the crew easily. He too had nightmares but so did most of them. He woke screaming less than he had originally and more often than not would wake up with a quiet gasp, realize where he was and go right back to sleep. He had told Chan himself that the Levanter felt like safety, that waking up from a nightmare and knowing exactly who was with him and having their arms around him kept him from panicking. He knew they had him and would keep him safe no matter what. Chan desperately hoped Felix would be okay. Quiet footsteps sounded on the wood and Chan looked back to the deck and was greeted with Seungmin starting up the stairs to the helm. He was wearing Changbin’s jacket and had Chan’s in his hands. He held it out to him silently and Chan took it.

“Thanks, Seungminnie,” he said, “can’t sleep?” Seungmin shook his head and leaned against the rail that over looked the deck.

“ _Is he going to be okay?_ ” he asked.

“ _Felix? Yeah,_ ” said Chan nodding. “ _He’ll be okay. He needs time. He doesn’t believe us yet, but we’ll do our best and eventually he’ll be okay. Innie’s okay, so is Hyunjin, Jisung, Changbin, Minho, and you. Are you okay?_ ” Seungmin was quiet.

“ _I thought I was,_ ” he said finally. “ _I’m not sure._ ”

“ _Do you want to talk about it?_ ” asked Chan and Seungmin picked at the sleeves of Changbin’s jacket. Seungmin tended to seek Changbin out first when he was looking for security, which made sense. Changbin had been the one that saved him so Seungmin’s brain associated him with being the safest of the three oldest. He was Seungmin’s comfort and more than once Changbin had given up his coat for Seungmin to fall back asleep after a nightmare had woken him up. Jeongin similarly often sought out Jisung first though he had no problem coming to all of them. Hyunjin often talked things through with Minho before talking to anyone else. Everyone dealt with things in their own ways so it wasn’t unusual for Seungmin to be in Changbin’s jacket.

“ _I don’t know,_ ” Seungmin said finally. “ _Yes, I think so. But I don’t know._ ”

“ _Do you want me to wake Bin?_ ” asked Chan and Seungmin shook his head.

“ _I don’t prefer Changbin-hyung to you, hyung,_ ” he said. “ _I trust you too. Changbin-hyung just understands. His brain works similar to how mine does I think. That’s why he’s so good at cheating at cards. But I don’t know that I can talk to him about this. I’d rather talk to you if I’m going to._ ”

“ _Alright,_ ” agreed Chan nodding. “ _Let me know if you decide you want to. I’m not going anywhere._ ” Seungmin smirked and nodded. The night was silent around them and it was peaceful again.

“ _We’re not on course,_ ” said Seungmin suddenly.

“ _No we aren’t,_ ” agreed Chan. “ _I had a feeling. The wind says we got southeast so we go southeast._ ”

“ _What’s southeast? Africa?_ ” asked Seungmin and Chan shrugged.

“ _I have no idea,_ ” said Chan and Seungmin looked over his shoulder at him hesitantly.

“ _Australia?_ ” he asked and Chan looked over at him startled for a moment before looking back to keep them on course. The wind pulled firmly whispering over his shoulder.

“Yes,” muttered Chan. “ _Australia. It’s time._ ”

“ _You haven’t been home in a long time,_ ” said Seungmin quietly. “ _Why don’t you go home?_ ” Chan was quiet.

“ _My dad’s magic, Seungmin-ah. And my mother was a thief and a daughter of thieves, she and her parents were sent to Australia,_ ” said Chan nodding. “ _They started a new life there you know? I was really young when she remarried. My grandparents never liked me. I was an abomination to nature, being half storm sprite and all._ ”

“Dragon,” whispered Seungmin nodding and Chan nodded.

“Yeah, dragon,” he said in agreement. “ _Either way. Mother remarried, had two more kids and then both her and her husband died in an accident on the dock when I was still very young. Well, my grandparents took in my half siblings, they were the sweetest, I hope they’re well, but I’ll never know._ ”

“ _They didn’t take you._ ”

“ _Wouldn’t take me._ ” said Chan shaking his head. “ _They kicked me out with nothing, moved to the country over night and dropped me off on a merchant ship. I’ve been jumping from ship to ship since. I met BamBam on the second ship. We sailed together for years across thousands of ships of all nationalities and kinds. I was young enough that really all I have of Australia is my accent. The sea is home. I’ve lived by the waves and the wind far longer than I ever lived on land._ ”

“ _You’ve never wanted to find your siblings?_ ”

“ _They’ve been raised by my grandparents. I’m sure they want nothing to do with me._ ”

“ _Then why are we sailing for Australia? It’s not exactly a good port for trading,_ ” said Seungmin, “ _there are better ones in that direction._ ”

“ _Hyunjin said Felix fought to stay alive in order to get home someday. To see his family again,_ ” said Chan quietly. “ _I can’t do that for most of us, but I’ll be damned if I won’t for those of us I can. He wants to go home so we take him home._ ”

“ _But he’s supposed to be here,_ ” said Seungmin. “ _You and Jisung have said all along we’ll be eight._ ”

“ _Yes. He fits here, he belongs here, but if he’s not ready to be here or is never ready I’m not going to force him to stay,_ ” said Chan shaking his head. “ _So we take him home. Do you want to go home, Seungmin?_ ”

“ _I am home,_ ” said Seungmin without hesitation. There was no trace of disbelief in his voice. Seungmin’s home was the Levanter and they were his brothers and Chan felt better about that. He had been worried that Seungmin was forcing himself to stay out of a sense of repayment or something.

“ _You don’t want closure with your father?_ ” asked Chan, “ _because we are a ghost story. It wouldn’t be hard to get you in and out of a governor’s house._ ”

“ _No. I don’t want to see him,_ ” said Seungmin shaking his head, “ _it’s better like this I think. That he thinks me dead. I don’t think he really wanted me to be alive anyway. I overheard him talking to the captain before I left you know._ ” Chan did not like where this was heading at all.

“ _The Captain told him not to worry that I would be perfectly safe with them and my father told him not to stress himself. That it wasn’t very important I come home unharmed or at all. I’ve never been able to live up to his standards. He thought I was weird too. All the studies I was interested in he claimed were useless and his were terrible,_ ” said Seungmin shaking his head. “ _I think he may have blamed me for my mother’s death though I’m not sure how it would be my fault. She fell ill and I was six so that’s not on me._ ” Chan wondered briefly how much of a detour it would take to stop by a certain governor’s house and burn it down with him locked inside.

“ _Did he hurt you?_ ” asked Chan, “ _physically I mean, not just emotionally and mentally._ ” If he did Chan was turning this ship around to go kill him, detour or not.

“ _No,_ ” said Seungmin shaking his head. “ _He never hurt me or hit me or anything or ordered it either. He certainly didn’t stop people from hurting me, but he didn’t himself._ ” Chan spends several seconds entertaining the idea of turning the ship around anyway.

“ _That’s why you were so willing to become a pirate,_ ” said Chan. Seungmin shrugged.

“ _If that’s what it means to be a law abiding and honored citizen I don’t want it,_ ” said Seungmin firmly. “ _If the violent thieves sought to be hung are the ones that pull rapists off of people and hunt down slavers and kidnappers and keep innocent people from harm and execution then that’s where I want to be. I’ll throw my lot in with the criminals who are decent people over the decent people that are cruel every time. It’s not much of a choice really. I know what I believe in and I believe in all the same things you do and none of the ones my father does. This is the closest I’ve ever felt to belonging somewhere, hyung. I’m sure this is what a family is supposed to be like. And the Levanter is safety and freedom and justice. This is home. I’m home, hyung, so don’t worry about the fact that I’m one of the only ones among us with living relatives. I have no where else I would rather be._ ” Chan nodded. Seungmin wasn’t very verbally affectionate, he preferred to show his love with teasing over the straight forward loud love that Jisung and Hyunjin both preferred, this was the most serious way Seungmin would say he loved them and Chan was so glad that Changbin had brought him aboard with him all those months ago.

“ _I’ll find you anatomy books in the next port,_ ” said Chan and Seungmin laughed slightly and broke out into a grin.

“ _Really?_ ” he asked and Chan nodded.

“ _I won’t keep you from pursuing knowledge and if you want to learn about the human body over anything else we’ll make it happen,_ ” said Chan nodding adjusting their course slightly farther south.

“ _You’re the best,_ ” said Seungmin, “ _can we find literature textbooks? My father never let me get far with those either. And chemistry. Oooh, alchemy? And astronomy._ ” Chan laughed.

“ _The next time we’re in a proper town we’ll find the biggest bookstore available,_ ” he agreed nodding. Seungmin smiled brightly.

“ _Thanks, hyung,_ ” he said. “ _And for what it’s worth. I’m really glad you’re my brother. I’m going to go back to sleep now. Thank you._ ” Chan smiled, his chest feeling tight at Seungmin’s words.

“ _I’m glad you’re my brother too, Seungmin-ah,_ ” he said. “ _Try to get some sleep._ ” Seungmin nodded and started back down the stairs. Chan ran a hand across his face once Seungmin had disappeared back to the captain’s cabin. He was so lucky to have these boys, to have this ship, to have all of this, what else could anyone ever want.

Seungmin climbed back into the chair with Changbin and adjusted the blanket over them both again. It wasn’t long until his breathing evened out and Felix opened his eyes again. Neither Seungmin or Chan had noticed him sneak out to the deck, standing just in the shadow of the stairs to the helm. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, he had needed to know where he was and see if he could find anything that may help him escape. Waking up to a room full of people had been very confusing. It made no sense that the entire crew was sleeping in the cabin and that he and Minho had been left completely alone in the bed. To the point that pairs of them were tangled up in each other in smaller parts of the room that were not beds. Felix didn’t understand this crew at all and found himself briefly wondering if maybe it hadn’t been a trick. Hearing Seungmin and Chan talking about their own pasts and in English had kept Felix rooted to the spot in the shadows. Hearing his name hadn’t helped any either. Chan telling Seungmin he was taking them to Australia, taking Felix home had made hope blossom in Felix’s heart. Hope that had died out for sheer determination years ago now. He hadn’t felt pure hope in a very long time. Which meant that maybe Chan was telling the truth. Maybe Chan really did want him to be a part of his crew and not a slave, not a toy or a weapon. And maybe Felix could find something here on the Levanter that he hadn’t found even when he still lived in Australia with his parents. A place to truly belong. Felix was getting home no matter what, any decisions of after could be made after he got home. He had been fighting to go home since the moment he was taking and if the pirates were taking him home then he would at least do his best to not be a problem for them. It had been a long time since he had trusted someone else, but it seemed that if Felix was going to allow himself to trust anyone that it should be this crew. He could try, but the minute they proved him wrong Felix wouldn’t try again. He’d been fighting on his own for years and years and years. Maybe it was time to let someone fight beside him. It was time to hope. He could talk to Seungmin in the morning, he would probably be able to help Felix with the basics of Korean. Apparently he was going to need it, he didn’t want the others to constantly have to be playing translator for him and Seungmin seemed the least intimidating. And in all honesty Felix was a little curious about what he could learn from a dismembered tongue. He had spent a lot of his life learning how to chop body parts off and hadn’t ever considered the body parts themselves. He was going to make the most of being aboard this strange pirate ship and he was going to allow himself to hope again. But he was also going to go to sleep because Hyunjin had been right earlier in the night and Felix felt extremely weak after his little adventure to the deck of the Levanter. Felix carefully shifted closer to Minho and settled his head against Minho’s shoulder and he let himself fall asleep with the rocking of the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> did i write this in like two days? yes  
> is it edited? you're what six fics into this series now....do we really think i've edited anything???? it'll be edited eventually i promise. when i get around to it. 
> 
> there's more coming! i've got at least two other major plot points to cover still they're not as solidly planned out so i'm not sure how many fics it'll be from here but we're not done yet!
> 
> australia does happen in the next fic though and other than that i haven't decided :) 
> 
> thank you for reading!!! i love you all ♡♡♡♡


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